Disinfecting and ventilating device.



F. FRANK.

DISINFECTING AND VENTILATING DEVICE. APPLICATION FILED JAN. 4. 1916.

awuemtoz FELIX FRANK, OF BERKELEY, CALIFORNIA.

. DISINFEGTING AND VENTILATING DEVICE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Sept. 11, 1917.

Application filed January 4, 1916. Serial No. 70,234..

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FELIX FRANK, a citizen of the United States, residing at Berkeley, in the county of Alameda and State of California, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Disinfecting and Ventilating Devices, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to devices for disinfecting and purifying the atmosphere contained within closures, such as hats and other garments or themouth pieces-or receivers of telephones and like instruments, and has for one of its objects to provide a simply constructed container in which a disinfecting element is placed and in the presence of or through which the air is caused to pass and thus be disinfected or purified.

Another object of the invention is to provide a simply constructed device which may be readily attached to the supporting structure without material alteration in the structure and without interfering with its ordinary uses.

Another object of the invention. is to provide a device of this character formed in separable parts so that the disinfecting elements may be readily renewed or changed without removing the device from the supporting structure.

With these and other objects in view, the invention consists in certain novel features of construction as hereinafter shown and described and then specifically pointed out in the claims; and in the drawings illustra tive of the preferred embodiment of the invention Figure 1 is a perspective view from above of the improved device;

Fig. 2 is a perspective view from beneath of the improved device;

Fig. 3 is a sectional view on the line 33 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a side view of a conventional hat with the improvement applied;

Fig. 5 is a side elevation of a portion of a conventional telephone receiver, partly in section, with the improvement applied;

Fig. 6 is a view of a portion of the desk standard of a telephone implement with the ear piece thereon, illustrating the manner of employing the device in connection with the latter;

Fig. 7 is a View similar to Fig. 6 illustrating a modification in the construction.

Corresponding and like parts are referred to in the following description and indicated in all the views of the drawings by the same reference characters.

The improved device may be constructed of any size or material and comprises in general a container represented as a whole at 10, and in the form employed for illustration is shown as a fiat cylinder open at one side and with an aperture, indicated at 11, through the other side. The aperture is preferably surrounded by a collar 12, and when employed in connection with a hat or like garment, illustrated conventionally at 13, the collar 12 is surrounded by an annular flange 14.- with the material of the hat or other garment bearing between the collar 12 and its flange 11, as illustrated in Fig. 3.

By this means communication is had be tween the outer air and the interior of the cylinder through the aperture 11.

The open side of the body 10 of the con tainer is provided with a closure, indicated at 15, preferably provided with an internally threaded rim 16 to engage a correspondingly threaded portion of the body 10, as illustrated in Fig. 3. By this means the closure is readily attached to and detached from the body 10 when required. The closure 15 is provided with a central opening or aperture 17 corresponding in diameter with the opening 11 and registering with the same when the closure is connected to the body of the container. The closure 15 is likewise provided with a plurality of smaller apertures 18 spaced from the central opening 17. The body 10 is designed to contain a disinfecting medium which may be of any required material and of any required compound or substance. The member containing the disinfectant is preferably in the form of a fiat tablet represented conventionally at 19 and provided with a central aperture 20 registering with the aperture 1117. The member 19 may be of any suitable absorbent material in which the disinfectant is held either in solution or in a dry state. The material or substance contained in the body 10 may possess disinfecting and medicinal qualities and it is not desired therefore to limit the device to any specific material or substance employed for this purpose.

When employed upon a hat, as indicated in Fig. 4, the substance within the container may possess curative value for the treatment of scalp or hair diseases, the air passing through the apertures 1120-1 9 taking up through the vent openings 21 and create draft or suction through the larger opening 11 v v The improved device may likewisebe employed in connection with mouth pieces 22 of telephone receivers, illustrated in Fig. 5, and thus disinfect the air within the mouth piece and prevent contagion therefrom. When employed in connection with the mouth piece of a telephone, as illustrated in Fig. 5, the enlargement or flange 14; may be detachably coupled to the collar 12 in any suitable manner.

When employed in connection with the ear piece of a telephone, a bracket 23 is attached to the stand 24, the bracket having a drum shaped portion 25 open at the upper side to form a seat for the outer terminal of the ear piece 26 and with the improved device attached to the bottom of the drum, as shown in Fig. 6. By this means the ear engaging portion will be supported adjacent to the container 10 when hung up, and automatically disinfected by the vapors rising from the container during the intervals between the employment of the telephone. 7 If preferred, the drum 25 may be formed integral with the fork arm 27 and the latter located nearer the base 28 of the stand 24. By this arrangement the weight of the ear piece will be utilized to cut off the receiver device.

The improved, device is simple in construction, can be inexpensively manufactured of any suitable material and modified or changed in minor particulars within the scope of the claims and without departing from the principle of the invention or sacrificing any of its advantages.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new is 3 ,7 1. A disinfectant holder comprising a body member having exterior threads and provided with a central opening surrounded by an annular collar terminating in a laterally extending attaching flange, a perforated closure engaging the threads on the body member and provided with an opening registering with the central opening in the body member, and a disinfectant element fitting, within the body member and having a central opening therethrough the walls of which are alined with thewalls of the open; ings in said body memberand closure.

2. The combination witha supportingcup having an openin in the bottom thereof,of a disinfectant holder including a body member having a central openingsurrounded by a collar extending through the opening in the bottom of the cup and provided with a laterally extending flange bearing against the lower surface of the bottom of said cup, a perforated closure detachably secured to the body member and provided with a central opening registering with the opening in the body member, and a disinfectant elementvfittin'g within the body member and provided with an opening registering with the openings in said body member and closure; 7

In testimony whereof, affix my signature.

" FELIX FRANK. [1,. 5.

Copies 0! this patent may be obtained for five cents each-13 'addressi ng the Commissioner of Patents.

' Washington, D. O. 

